Are there some things that are more sacred than others? For instance, is a church bell more sacred than a pair of socks?

The basic, most fundamental truth is that everything in this world is sacred to an equal degree in terms of its fundamental nature. In other words, a pair of socks is just as sacred as a church bell. And in fact, depending on how you use the pair of socks or how you misuse the church bell, the pair of socks might be more useful for you in your spiritual path.

Everything in this world is equally sacred and the way to access that sacredness, that sanctity, is through your actions and your intentions — through the way you regard every object that you come into contact with. Some of you are so centered and filled with love and consciously intentional about your lives, that everything you touch becomes sacred and the sacredness of everything that you come into contact with becomes evident.

Intention makes the difference. You know those people, when they give you a hug, you feel as if your whole body has been blessed? You just feel completely loved in that moment. Another person might give you a hug that is so sharp and tense and stiff, that you actually might feel rejected, even in the middle of the hug. So there is an intention that you bring to your life and to everything that you contact that elicits this sacred nature of that object. This is really what matters when you are considering the idea that everything is sacred what matters, or what you are meant to do from that is to become more consciously intentional about those things you come into contact with. To access the sacredness of an object, ask the questions, “How can I use this object for love? What is enlightening about this object?” If you look for and find the love and light, then anything mundane can be seen as sacred, because everything actually IS sacred.

There is a secondary truth in regard to sacred objects. This is that objects do take on energy from the way that they are used and the intentions with which they are used. This means that a church bell that is rung every morning with light and joy and love by a monk in a monastery who carries a great deal of intention with him, that church bell, over time, takes on the vibration of that monk's intentions of the conscious, loving act of being rung every day, every morning with joy. Eventually, that object takes on that energy in the same way an object can absorb your fear. It can absorb your mistrust or your anger and objects can be used to help you dispel some of your difficult emotions.

Many of you may have tried an exercise in which you infuse a crystal or some other sacred object with the shadow inside you in order to release it so that the object becomes an activated healing tool. In that way, some objects become, in practical use, more sacred in that they carry a higher vibration of energy because of the way they have been used. This occurs with object whether you consciously intend to activate them or not. Imagine the love embedded in a child’s favorite blanket. Imagine the sadness and criticism embedded in a photograph of yourself that you do not like. If you are intentional, you can better honor the objects that help you hold love and release those that inspire fear or criticism.

There is an incredible truth in regard to the energy that each of you carries individually — your intentions, whether conscious or not, are immensely greater than the energy in inanimate objects. This means that all of you have the power to shift the vibration of an object in an instant. All of you have the power to remove and darken the beautiful love in that church bell with your own bad intentions. Equally so, every one of you has the ability to make a pair of socks the most sacred, beautiful, light infused object you can imagine. You can take a pair of socks and when you put them on you feel a sense of profound gratitude for a universe that has brought you these socks because they are comfortable, because they keep you warm, because they reflect a sense that you are cared for and they remind you of a sense of abundance.

Similarly, that pair of socks might be something that you choose to give to someone who is freezing on the street. That act of giving, the act of profound yet simple generosity, infuses the socks with an equal amount of love and light. And so the bottom line is that everything in this world is fundamentally sacred because it exists out of the intention of creation. Everything in this world is made out of divine energy. That divine energy has been molded into a sock or into a church bell or into countless other objects, as a sacred act. The energy in every one of those atoms is part of the energy of the universe. It is divine. What matters then is how you use it.

Can the Keepers give us an exercise to help us really comprehend that everything is sacred? It is such an abstract principle. What can we do on a daily basis to really experience the world as sacred?

One exercise you can use is to create a dialogue with some of the objects in your life. This exercise will not only help you perceive the sacred nature of things, but it will also help you increase your intuition and your telepathic abilities. In this exercise, give yourself a five-minute period every day and during this five-minute period, you might set an alarm so that you know when it begins and when it ends. During the five-minute period, every object that you touch, imagine that your touch is a question. If you place your hand on a table, imagine that your hand is offering a question to that table and think in your mind this question, "What do you want?" You ask this of the table through your hand, if that makes sense. This is kind of a meditative exercise.

You might feel silly when you do this. You might wonder if you are crazy. Consider that if every object were sacred, then why would you NOT take a moment to interact? Why would you NOT take a moment to connect with the light? This is an opportunity to practice living with an idea that you may have already embraced – the idea that everything is sacred.

As you place your hand on the table, you imagine that the light from your body comes out through your hand and into the table and connects with the light of the table. Just imagine that in your mind and then ask the question. In your mind's eye, just think, "What do you want?" Then take a deep breath in and as you breathe out, imagine that the light from the table moves up your arm. This is a whimsical exercise, so simply notice what comes to mind. Imagine that there are colors or images or sounds coming up into your arm from the table. Just take note of what those thoughts are. Do you suddenly think of an image? Do you feel an emotion? Or do you feel a physical sensation? Notice your sensations, notice any images that come to mind, any colors. Just notice.

Then move onto another object. So you will just move from one object to another. If you pick up a pencil, if you pick up a fork, if you place your hand on a doorknob — for everything you touch, just simply first imagine the light within you moving out into the object. Second, imagine the light in the object connecting with your light. Third, ask the question, "What do you want?" and feel that question move through your hand into the object. What do you want? It is not a desperate question; it is a simple, gentle question.

Finally, four is to take in a breath and as you breathe out, imagine the light from that object moving up through your arm and notice what comes to your mind. This becomes a game. It becomes a dialogue. It becomes a little bit like that game Marco Polo that children play in the swimming pool. This is a game that helps establish for you a gentle ongoing dialogue with the world around you. As you perk up your ears for those five minutes, you are going to become more aware of the sense of light throughout the rest of your day. You are going to become more aware of a sense of meaning in things and you are going to become more willing to acknowledge random, passing thoughts that come to your mind and you will acknowledge that there is actually meaning there. That you are getting messages from the world around you. That is an exercise you can begin to engage in order to further explore the inherent sacredness and light in everything around you. (February 2011)